Residential structures often benefit from including a deck adjacent thereto. Such decks are typically located outside of the residential structure and act to expand overall useful space of the residence and tend to join an exterior landscape with interior space of the residential structure.
Such decks typically include a plurality of joists oriented parallel to each other and either supported from below by girders or other structural members, or suspended from the residential structure (or both). Decking material, often in the form of deck boards, are placed upon the joists, typically perpendicular to the joists. These deck boards or other decking materials provide the surface upon which occupants can stand when utilizing the deck, and upon which furniture and other decorative items are typically placed.
Because decking structures are typically formed from dimensional lumber or other wood containing materials, the integrity and lifespan of the deck is enhanced by maintaining a gap between adjacent deck boards. Specifically, when water strikes the deck boards it is important that the water not be in any way encouraged to reside for indefinite periods of time adjacent the various decking materials. If the deck boards are adjacent each other, moisture can reside between the deck boards and cause the deck boards (and also the joists) to prematurely decay. Most properly designed decks thus call for a standard gap width between adjacent deck boards.
On most decks this gap width is either ¼ inch or ⅜ inch. While the gap could be wider or smaller (for instance some composite decking material specifies a ⅛ inch gap width) and could vary, decks typically benefit aesthetically by having gaps which are of uniform width. Accordingly, a need exists for this gap to be efficiently and properly provided as the deck boards are being installed.
Numerous products exist in the prior art which are directed to the general goal of assisting a deck board installer in maintaining proper gap width between adjacent deck boards. For instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,735,497; 4,850,114; 4,955,142; 5,560,117; 6,508,010; 6,510,621; 6,539,641; 6,647,638; and 6,915,590 provide various prior art attempts to address this need.
One problem exhibited by most if not all of the prior art deck board positioning prior art is the difficulty in removing the prior art devices after adjacent deck boards have been fastened in place. In particular, to make the gap of uniform width it is desirable to place the boards snugly together with only the gap sizing tool therebetween. Once the boards have been fastened to underlying joists, the gap sizing tool is often wedged tightly between the deck boards. Accordingly, a need exists for a deck board gap sizing tool which can be readily removed after use.
Also, it would be beneficial to provide a gap sizing method which allows multiple gaps between multiple adjacent boards to be sized initially in an overall deck layout step with simple gap sizing tools which can be used together in a large set, and preferably be adjustable to provide varying width gaps and be readily removable after use.